Tyler James Williams Biography

Tyler James Williams (born October 9, 1992) is an American actor, hip hop recording artist, martial artist, musician, music video director, film director and graphic designer. He is most recognizable for having played the title character of the Chris Rock-inspired sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, and songwriter Cyrus DeBarge in the Disney Channel movie Let It Shine. He has also had a supporting role as Noah on AMC's The Walking Dead, and on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

Early life

Williams was born in Westchester County, New York and was raised in Yonkers, New York. His mother, Angela Williams, is a singer and songwriter, and his father, Le"?Roy Williams, is a police sergeant. Williams has two younger brothers; Tyrel Jackson Williams (b. 1997) and Tylen Jacob Williams (b. 2001). His younger brothers are both actors, with Tyrel starring on the Disney XD series, Lab Rats as Leo Dooley and Tylen starring on Instant Mom as James Phillips. Williams had also appeared on Lab Rats, portraying his brother's character's future self and Instant Mom as his younger brother family cousin Jamal.

Career

Williams began his acting career at age four. He later starred in Little Bill as the voice of Bobby, briefly replacing Devon Malik Beckford in 2000, and played himself (or an eponymous character, "Tyler") on the children's show Sesame Street from 2000 to 2005. He rose to fame in 2005 by playing the main character in the hit series Everybody Hates Chris, which finished in 2009. He won a Young Artist Award in 2007 for his work on the show. He has also been a guest star in Two for the Money, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the show Hi-Jinks. In late 2009, Williams appeared in the second season of True Jackson, VP as True's love interest Justin "Lil' Shakespeare" Weber in the two-part episode "Flirting with Fame".

In 2012, Williams got the role of Owen in the series Go On. He also played the lead role of Cyrus DeBarge in the Disney Channel Original Movie Let It Shine alongside Coco Jones, Trevor Jackson, and Brandon Mychal Smith. Williams was also featured on nine songs on the film's soundtrack, showing off his rapping skills. The movie premiered on June 15, 2012, and his songs "Don't Run Away", "Me and You", "Guardian Angel", "Let It Shine", and "Moment of Truth" all received airplay on Radio Disney. The videos were also played frequently on the Disney Channel. Williams also guest starred in the Disney XD series, Lab Rats as a future version of the character his little brother Tyrel Jackson Williams played.

In 2014 Williams starred in Justin Simien's 2014 independent film Dear White People as Lionel Higgins.

In 2014, Williams was cast as the recurring character Noah on the television series The Walking Dead.

In 2016, Williams played Russ "Monty" Montgomery in the Criminal Minds spin-off Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Two for the Money	Guest at Party	Uncredited
2006	The Ant Bully	Blue Teammate #1	Voice
2006	Unaccompanied Minors	Charlie Goldfinch
2013	Tyler Perry Presents Peeples	Simon Peeples
2014	Dear White People	Lionel Higgins
2017	Detroit	Leon

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000-05	Sesame Street	Himself	Various episodes
2000-02	Little Bill	Bobby	6 episodes
2003	Saturday Night Live	Jack Black's adopted son / Young Boy / Entari Shakunte
2004	Judge Mooney	Melvin
2005	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Kyle McGovern	"Parts" (Season 6, Episode 22)
2005-09	Everybody Hates Chris	Chris	Lead role (88 episodes)
2009	The Cleaner	Kenji Simon	"Last American Casualty" (Season 2, Episode 2)
2009	True Jackson, VP	Justin	"Flirting with Fame" (Season 2, Episode 2)
2010	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Firestorm / Jason Rusch	Voice only
2010	Our Show		Television film
2011	House	Landon	"Carrot or Stick" (Season 7, Episode 10)
2012	Lab Rats	Future Leo	"Back from the Future" (Season 1, Episode 11)
2012	Let It Shine	Cyrus DeBarge / Truth	Television film
2012-13	Go On	Owen	Series regular; 19 episodes
2014	Key & Peele	Jaleel White	"Slap-Ass: In Recovery" (Season 4, Episode 4)
2014-15, 16	The Walking Dead	Noah	Season 5 (Recurring role; 10 episodes), Season 7 (Archive footage; 1 episode)
2015	Criminal Minds	Russ "Monty" Montgomery	"Beyond Borders" (Season 10, Episode 19)
2015	Ballers	Water boy	"Raise Up" (Season 1, Episode 2)
2015	Instant Mom	Jamal	(Season 3, Episode 12)
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Temptation	Episode: "Brie Larson Wears a Billowy Long-Sleeve Shirt and White Saddle Shoes" (Season 4, Episode 23)
2016-2017	Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders	Russ "Monty" Montgomery	Main Role
2018	Dear White People	Carson Rhodes

Awards and nominations

Black Reel Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2015	Best Breakthrough Performance	Dear White People

NAACP Image Award

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2006	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	Everybody Hates Chris
2007	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
2008	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
2009	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
2010	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
2018	Outstanding Independent Motion Picture	Detroit

Teen Choice Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2006	Choice Actor: Comedy	Everybody Hates Chris

Young Artist Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
2006	Leading Young Actor (Comedy or Drama)	Everybody Hates Chris
2008	Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor

Discography

• Let It Shine Soundtrack (2012)
• Me, My Brother, And A Mic (2015)